


Fire Burning in My Bones

by Stormwind13



Series: Core of Strength [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, Gen, time skip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-07-28 16:16:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7647892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormwind13/pseuds/Stormwind13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started out as a mission to find the one thing that might lead them to where Sasuke Uchiha had disappeared to. It ended with Hinata's path taking a radically different turn than it might otherwise have.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This story runs concurrent to [A Lot of Fight Left in Me ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4372169/chapters/9923495) and starts in chapter six, when Team Eight leaves on a mission

Shino had been the one to bring up the bug, back when they had first formed the team and still trying to learn about each other.

It had been a little piece of Aburame history, told to him by his older brother, mixed in with Hinata's stories of her great aunt and Kiba's tales of his family's wandering days. She had thought it interesting, that the course of an entire war had been influenced by a few bugs and then forgot it.

Until now, when Kiba had been complaining about how hard it was for the Inuzuka to track the Sound Shinobi - some sort of technique that was frustrating all of the Inuzuka and most of the Akechi; some of them could follow the Sound into the land of Rice Paddies, but lost the scent within a few miles of the borders - and Hinata had remembered.

Shino had protested, wanting to take more D-ranks to help relieve the strain that the rest of the village was operating under and that they could be sure of completing. But Hinata had argued, until she was blue in the face, that this was a good use of their resources (there were only so many D-ranks to go around and she would rather the missions go to the genin (like Naruto, if he were still in village) that didn’t have the family coffers and armories to fall back on) and that even a miniscule chance was better than no chance.

Shino had been skeptical at first but had agreed to consult his father while Hinata and (with some reluctance) Kiba had dug through Kiba’s family histories looking for any mentions of the bug.

Hinata had debated going to her father, who had made a point to study both the Aburame and Inuzuka clans after she had told him her team formation, but went to her great aunt instead.

"The Bikōchū beetle?" Aunt Hisa snorted and made a dismissive gesture. "Useless, for the most part. Especially against enemies."

Hinata settled in and waited patiently for Aunt Hisa to continue, which the elderly woman did after Hinata had poured them both cups of tea. "Couldn't be used again after the target was dead and, no matter what Shiko said, they were barely useful for tracking allies."

"Tracking allies?" Hinata made sure she sounded lightly interested; the last thing she wanted was for her father to take an interest. No. She wanted to present this - if they even started it - to him already done, the feat accomplished.

Aunt Hisa looked blandly at her and Hinata made sure her face was blank. Maybe her aunt wouldn't tell Father, but no point in giving anything away. After a long few seconds Aunt Hisa continued, "Yes. If, as I said, nearly completely useless. There are very few shinobi that could keep up with and track the Bikōchū."

"Nearly useless is not entirely useless."

Her aunt's gaze was much shrewder and Hinata busied herself with her tea so she wouldn't have to meet her aunt's gaze. Or worse, see the pity that nearly every other relative she came in contact with seemed to give her. She knew that the family no longer considered her the presumptive heir even if there had been no official announcement. But... she forced herself to keep her hands from shaking - but her father hadn't said anything. _There was still a chance_.

"You're right." Aunt Hisa gently set the cup down. "Nearly useless is not completely. And we did use the few that we had as a precaution against the enemy attempting to take valuable hostages."

Hinata blinked and hoped her aunt would continue. This hadn't been in the Inuzuka family histories!

"Tobirama and Hokage-sama both had one, obviously, and the Terrors when they were placed on the field."

Her great aunt paused and Hinata took advantage to ask, "The Terrors?"

"An internal nickname for Tamiyo-sama's younger children." Hinata must have looked confused because her aunt huffed impatiently. "Hokage-sama's stepmother. She was barely twenty when the village was founded and his father less than two years in the ground." A slight smirk. "Do you think she remained celibate until she died?"

She flushed. "I hadn't really thought about it, Aunt Hisa." She really hadn't. The romantic pursuits of the First Hokage's stepmother had not ever crossed her mind. She was now wishing that they still hadn't. "What were the sons' names?"

"Takeo and Nikko, the twins. And Kaneko, the daughter." Her aunt smiled slightly and Hinata wondered which memories she was seeing. "Terrifying shinobi, all of them. Especially Kaneko. But that wasn't what you asking about." A sip of tea. " _If_ your team finds this beetle, _if_ you manage to get it to imprint on the correct scent, _if_ it survives the trip back to Konoha for you to collect back up, _then_ the bug will be useful."

"My team can do it." Hinata knew that as much as she knew that the sun would rise in the east.

"I don't doubt that," her aunt's pale eyes, even paler than most of Hyūga, bored into her. "But can you?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"...And that's everything." Hinata concluded, taking a breath and forcing herself to meet her Hokage's eyes. This was too important for her to not speak up.

If they could bring Sasuke back, maybe Naruto could return. Hinata was willing to admit - if only to herself and Kiba and Shino, obviously - that that was a major motivation, no matter how unlikely; she knew that Naruto hadn’t left because Sasuke had. But now.... she wanted to do this for Sakura, as well. She and the other girl weren't friends - not yet, she didn't think, but even Kiba had commented on how Sakura was changing.

She knew that but she could also see that Sakura was hurting and if she could help that... even if it was only a little, she wanted to.

Tsunade-sama moved to look out of the window, her gaze roaming over the streets below. Team Eight kept quiet while she thought, even Akamaru keeping silent.

"I can't spare a two man team of jōnin - or even chūnin - for a mission with less than a fifteen percent chance of success." She turned back and pinned them with a look. "But I also cannot let a team of genin go roaming outside of the outer wards unsupervised." Her finger tapped the map that Kiba had brought with him. "And this is most definitely outside of those limits."

Hinata could feel the pit in her stomach growing and let her eyes drop to the floor. This wasn't going to work, the mission wouldn't be approved, and they would have to wait another decade before the Bikōchū would lay their eggs.

"However."

Hinata's gaze snapped up, hope blooming in her chest. The Hokage was looking over them, something like amusement and... pride? in her gaze.

"Given the amount of work - solid, good work, I might add - that you have put into this, I am disinclined to not follow up on this." Her mouth twisted up in a wry grin. "You'll leave this afternoon from the north gates and Shino, while you will have the lead, given your knowledge of the beetle and the terrain that makes up its habitat, I will assign one of the more experienced shinobi to round out your team."

Kiba and Hinata both grinned at the look of surprise on Shino's face. Who did he think she was going to pick? Not Kiba - even he freely admitted that he wasn't ready to lead - and not Hinata, who was so quiet it would be a detriment in the field. Even if she was working on speaking more firmly and often.

Hokage-sama smirked. "Dismissed."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Who do you think she's going to assign to us?"

Kiba was the one that asked the question that they had all be thinking about as they headed towards their training grounds, where Sakura was probably already waiting. Hinata pursed her lips slightly as she thought it over.

"None of the Hyūga chūnin or jōnin will be available in the time frame she gave." She said finally, after going over the Hyūga roster in her head. She wasn't technically supposed to have access to it, being both a genin and not officially heir, but her father had been spending more and more time with Hanabi and Neji, and somebody from the main family was needed to actually do all the paperwork.

Akamaru barked and Kiba nodded. "There's no one available from my clan either - Akamaru says the last of the trained Nin dogs left last night." And, with them, their partners.

"It may not necessarily be a shinobi from our clans." Shino pointed out and Kiba made a face, which the other boy ignored. "It may just be whatever chūnin or jōnin she has left in the village."

"So someone injured." Kiba huffed and then frowned when Hinata and Shino protested before continuing. "Those are the only jōnin and chūnin in the village without crucial jobs. Every single able bodied nonessential - and some essential, I heard Hana complaining to Masaki before she left on her mission - non-genin are out running missions. And probably will be for at least the next two or three months."

Hinata knew that – the Hyūga were spread thin, with the only ones still in the compound (besides her father, who was not an active shinobi, though she thought he might have been jōnin) the very young and very old. Even the civilians were being shuffled into spots normally held by the chūnin and genin so that the lower ranks were free to take missions outside of the village.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Try not to be a burden to those around you...._

Hinata clenched the straps of her backpack tightly, anger and rejection warring each other. Her father had only seen her fighting Hanabi, who she was unwilling to hurt, and Neji, who was so far out of her league he might as well have been her father. He didn't see her spending hours working on a new application of the Sixty Four palms or sitting in with Zeshin-san to understand how the clan managed their many businesses and land.

_.....if you are able to help it._

Kiba bumped her as they headed towards the gates. "Are you worried about Sakura getting enough practice? She's got Ino and Chōji. She'll be fine."

"No." Hinata ducked her head, hiding a small smile. "I know Sakura will be fine. But Zeshin-san was going to do an audit on several of the smaller shops and needed a member of the main family there to oversee his work."

"Your father or grandfather are both capable of sitting with him, as is your sister." Shino's voice was even. "You do not need to shoulder the burden of your father's work at all times."

"I know, I just...." Hinata trailed off and stared at the trees, not wanting to look her teammates in the eye. Kiba sighed and bumped her again while one of Shino's bugs landed on her nose before crawling to settle in behind her ear.

She wrinkled her nose at them both, a slight smile appearing. And then she looked up and... "Shino, is that your older brother?"

All three of them stopped and stared because that was Torune Aburame standing by the gates. The sixteen year old had been about to take the jōnin exams when the invasion had happened, postponing the exams for another year and leaving all of the candidates in limbo until then; and right after the invasion, he'd been dispatched to the border of Earth Country and had been away for the last month.

"Torune?"

Shino's older brother grinned as they walked up to him. "Hokage-sama told me that since I was on light duty for the next two weeks, I could be your supervising chūnin on this mission."

Shino frowned at him but Kiba was the one that asked the question. "Light duty? What's wrong?"

Torune grimaced. "I need to rebuild my hive - Iwa wasn't exactly happy that we increased our presence on the border and expressed that.... creatively." He nodded towards the road. "I checked us out with the guards already though, so that we can go."

Shino nodded and moved to the lead position, Hinata and Kiba taking the left and right positions with Torune falling back to the rearguard.

Shino set a middling pace and the day was beautiful, Hinata thought. After almost a week of rising temperatures and humidity, there had been a welcome break in the weather - one that was sure to be followed by the beginnings of wet season. The first hour was spent in silence and they ate lunch on the go, with Kiba's family supplying the jerky and dried fruit.

The afternoon heated up, but not enough to make the run uncomfortable. It took a few hours, but by midafternoon Kiba and Akamaru were roaming ahead, scouting - as much as the middle wards needed to be scouted - before circling back to report on what they might have found, which wasn't much. Torune was a silent presence in the back and Shino would fall back to the rear occasionally, exchanging quiet words before he'd return to the front.

Hinata stayed in the middle, where she could move to back up any of her teammates in a pinch if she was needed. Not that she thought she would be needed, not here, not yet anyway. It was relaxing, just the three of them - and Torune, she remembered with a guilty glance at the chūnin - in a way that they hadn't really had since the invasion.

Akamaru landed on her shoulder before spring boarding back into the trees, but she was used to that - she automatically rolled her body to compensate for the sudden weight. Kiba bounced off a tree over her head and followed his partner, not mission silent but not as loud as he could be in the village. She glanced at Shino and got a nod of permission along with the complicated eyebrow movement of rolled eyes.

"Kiba, wait for me!" She took off into the trees, a much smoother maneuver than it had been when she'd made genin, and joined Kiba as he circled around Shino and Torune again.

He gave her a sideways glance. "You alright, Hinata?"

 _Your dad didn't say anything?_ He didn't say that, but she knew he wanted to. Kiba was protective of her - not in the sense he didn't think she could handle herself in a fight, because he knew she could do that. At least against opponents that weren't related to her - but he didn't understand or approve of how the Hyūga family behaved.

She gave him a slight smile. "I'm fine Kiba." Or she would be - if Naruto could keep going, even when everyone hated him, when everyone was rooting for him to fail - then she could do no less. If he could believe that he could be Hokage, from hated to respected, she could move from dismissed to... well, she wasn't sure. Acknowledged, maybe? Appreciated definitely.

"Well, this is your show, we all know that." Kiba grinned and pounced, forcing her to dodge back towards the road. "You did most of the work and everything."

They landed on the road, barely in front of Shino and Torune. Shino raised an eyebrow and Kiba's grin widened as he bounced on his heels before the two of them moved to the front of the group, matching their strides. Hinata moved next to Torune, who was watching them in amusement. "It's good to see you Torune-san."

He glanced down at her and a ghost of a smile appeared - he wasn't much for facial expressions, like most Aburame, but after almost six months on a team with Shino, Hinata was more confident in her ability to read him. "And you, Hinata-chan."

"Was your mission hard?" She flinched immediately after she asked the question - _of course it was hard, he's on light duty, she should have realized...._

Torune shrugged. "Not until that last day - ambush by another clan of bug users and they knew - mostly - what they were doing. Almost killed my partner, but she should be alright, according to Konoe-san, and Fu said that he’d keep an eye on her while I’m gone." He frowned. "It was a stupid move, since we weren't in Earth. A little close to the border maybe, but now they have Grass pissed off at them - not that Grass was happy with us, but... and it didn't really accomplish anything."

"Because of the team that was killed?" Hinata remembered hearing about it, that a team from Grass had been killed even before the second test. The rumors she had heard blamed Sound, but it had been after the invasion and everything going wrong had been blamed on Sound.

"Yeah."

Kiba and Shino had vanished into the trees. Hinata felt the faint pulse of chakra that meant Torune was seeing where they were, then he continued. "We didn't kill them, but we didn't protect them either - it's not good for a country's reputation if they can't keep the participants safe in between the tests - so Grass is making noises about reparations and Earth is...." He huffed. "Earth is being Earth."

_Earth – rocky, mountainous. No good for farming and the mountain terrain is bad for setting up mines to retrieve minerals and precious metals. Main income comes from what little their mines can produce and wool sheared from several breeds of mountain mammals. Main element is Earth chakra with subset of Wind. Has at least one clan with a bloodline limit that allows the use of either lava or metal affinities._

Hinata called the information up, mostly to prove to herself she knew it – there were several Hyūga interests in the western portion of Earth Country.

“Will it come to anything?”

Torune cocked his head slightly and was quiet for a moment. “I don’t think so – Iwa has spent too much time getting into skirmishes with Suna to have a chance in hell of restarting a war with Konoha and the last few years….” He shook his head. “Well, it’s been bad, as far as rainfall goes, so they’ve been spending their coin on importing food.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They watched the sunset together – a tradition that Kurenai-sensei had started, their first week as an actual team – with Torune sitting beside Shino before they retired to their tent (they had only one tent, which they rotated carrying during missions). Hinata took the first watch and would relieve Kiba in three hours; watches were a good practice to keep, even in the supposedly safe area of the outer wards.

She glanced upwards at the moon that hung full and heavy in the sky - the color was bluer than normal and Hinata decided to take the unusual coloring as a good omen. They mostly appeared in the spring and she knew that farmers regarded them as a sign signaling abundant rain in the coming months. And after the last month, any event that was a sign of upcoming good fortune was something that she’d take.

She woke Kiba when it was his turn and was about to head to bed when Kiba touched her arm and whispered, “Saw a waterfall about five minutes east – the spray was awesome.”

Kiba was right - the waterfall was perfect for what she wanted to do; the spray was even and the surface of the water smoothed out after a few feet, perfect for water walking. She stood in the center, the water misting over her, and took a breath.

_Let everything go._

She gathered her chakra and moved, feeling it arch away from her and split the water drops. She repressed a smile - this was an experimental jutsu, one that she had only talked about the theory to Kurenai-sensei and had never used in an actual combat situation. That would be the real test. But for now.....

She spent all of Kiba's watch and almost half of Shino's just dancing with the water, losing herself in the ebb and flow of her chakra. She'd done this before, over the last two weeks, with Kiba and Shino keeping watch, but now... under the moon and misted by the waterfall, it was almost magical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Background for Hinata's great-aunt can be found in [Half the Sky](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5209283/chapters/12008462)


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to [elenathehun](http://archiveofourown.org/users/elenathehun/pseuds/elenathehun) for beta reading

She was exhausted the next morning and her chakra was just a fizzle under her skin instead of the bubbling pool she was used to, but the journey to the breeding ground was easy, with Kiba and Shino taking care of long range reconnaissance. Torune stayed with her, but didn't speak much and Hinata spent the time going over what she could recall of the family's financial ledgers.

Zeshin-san was doing a budget audit in two weeks and Hinata had decided to sit in on them; Zeshin-san was always willing to explain what he was doing and she was determined to be as knowledgeable as possible about how the family business was run. Hanabi certainly didn't care, which meant that even if she was named heir, Hinata would be the one that was placed in charge of the accounts.

And maybe, just maybe, if her father knew.... he might see how much work she was doing - how much of an effort she was making....

"We're here!" Kiba came to a stop at the edge of the cliff and peered over. "Wow, could you have found a more annoying place to breed a bug?"

Shino stared at him. "This is one of the hardest to access spots in Fire Country and still be close enough to Konoha's wards to discourage random foreign shinobi from snooping."

"So no." Kiba sighed and carefully lowered himself over the side of the cliff as Hinata readjusted her own pack - they'd be free climbing down and she didn't want to have her pack unbalance her.

"We've done harder," she said quietly, before lowering herself over the side as well. And they had - their first C-rank had been on the coast, guarding fishing vessels and the trade ships that passed through the area. But the village they had stayed in was Uzushio Sukoshi and it was built into a sheer cliff on the southern edge of Fire Country, with the only way to reach the village either by sea or by climbing down the nearly three hundred foot rock face.

Kiba grunted in answer and kept going. Torune was in the middle, with Shino in the rearguard because if they fell either Shino or Torune would be able to catch them. Of course, if they fell doing something as easy as climbing down a cliff they could stick to with chakra, they would deserve the teasing that would immediately follow.

Once they reached the bottom, Shino took the lead, heading towards the center of the massive sinkhole. Torune fell back to the rear again, with Hinata and Kiba in the middle positions.

"We'll camp in the center so that we can easily search any section of the forest during the day." His head tilted up to the sky. "We should be getting rain within the next three days, according to my bugs -"

"Akamaru agrees." Kiba added - Akamaru gave a yip of confirmation.

" - so we'll need to use the daylight wisely." Shino continued as though Kiba hadn't said anything. "While we make camp, I'll brief you on the nesting and other habits of the beetle that may help narrow the search area."

"Good." Hinata adjusted her back and glanced at the sky. "We should have at least three hours left to look today." She glanced around, searching for any bees or wasps. “We’re not going to get stung are we?”

One bad experience as a toddler was enough, as far as she was concerned, and she stayed as far away from anything with a stinger as possible.

Shino’s face did something complicated and she knew he was struggling, before he reached into a pocket and pulled out a vial. “There’s nothing…” he paused and corrected himself, since he tried to be as honest as possible, “almost nothing in the area that can cause serious injury to humans. But if it bothers you, I did bring the family’s insect repellent, which will also repel the beetle.”

Hinata sighed. “It’s fine, I’ll just keep an eye out and try to avoid any hives.” It would be a good way to continue refining her ability to differentiate between the various species of insects; she’d been trying to improve that aspect of her Byakugan since she’d been placed on Shino’s team.

Shino nodded, evidently satisfied. "Just so. We’ll split up but keep within shouting distance of each other. This area should be safe, but there is no point in being careless."

Hinata glanced over at Torune, but the chūnin was already starting to break open his pack,

They set up camp quickly enough and then spread out, Shino's description still fresh in their heads (though Hinata suspected that Torune didn't need the description, he'd waited while Shino had explained the bug's habits and showed them both a picture and a drawing, since the Bikōchū had been nearly extinct when photography was invented).

They started in the North and would spend the week working their way south - ideally they would manage to catch at least two of the beetles. One was fine, but the Aburames wanted at least one spare bug for attempted breeding. Hinata waited until the boys were on the very edge of her range before she activated her Byakugan; she didn't want her teammates’ chakra systems overwhelming the wildlife around them since larger chakra systems often did overshadow smaller ones.

And she was right, several of the insects were overshadowed by the larger animals while she sometimes struggled to tell the various species apart. Not that the others had any better luck - Kiba had only managed to find a rhinoceros beetle and Torune had stumbled on a nest of killer bees that he'd been forced to set ablaze to avoid being stung to death. Even Shino, who had released his hive to expand their search area, hadn't found anything.

Well, anything bug related anyway. They’d all noticed the three foreign shinobi. Hinata had been the one to actually see them and their chakra and if she was comparing their chakra pathways to Torune or Kurenai-sensei's.... high level chūnin or jōnin then. Dangerous, for a team of genin and a disabled chūnin.

“They haven’t made any aggressive moves, so they might not realize we’ve seen them.” Shino’s tone was shading towards annoyed; Hinata knew that he didn’t like complications.

Kiba smirked, “Too bad for them our entire specialty is finding hidden things – and enemies.” He frowned and shifted, “What are we going to do about it? It’s your call Shino, you’re team leader.”

“If we get into a fight,” Shino spoke slowly as he tried to work out what he wanted to do. “Not only will we be outmatched, we run the risk of injuring the insect, which we cannot afford.”

He glanced a Torune, who just nodded, before he continued, “As long as they don’t bother us, we’ll just keep a more careful watch.”

Dinner was quiet and as soon as the sun set, they went to bed - the nights were at their shortest now, with barely seven hours of true darkness, and they would rise with the sun. Hinata was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow and it didn't feel like any time at all had passed before Kiba was shaking her awake with the sunrise.

Somehow, she wasn't surprised when Torune was just as uncommunicative as Shino in the mornings, but she didn't say anything as she passed them both cups of Kiba's truly terrible travel coffee. If they were going to be almost comatose in the morning, they could live with the consequences. She'd certainly figured out a way around it. Namely, she'd taking to dipping the coffee beans in some of the new type of chocolate that was being imported from the Land of Honey. One use of a seal that kept food cool during the heat as well as ready to travel and she wasn't dependent on actual liquid coffee.

Which, given that Kiba was of the opinion that coffee needed to be honey thick before it was fit to drink, could only be a good thing.

After a cold breakfast of some of the fruit that Shino had had the foresight to collect the day before, they resumed their search, this time in pairs. Shino and Torune took the west and Kiba and Hinata the east, with Hinata using her Byakugan while Kiba an Akamaru followed up on anything she deemed interesting.

(There wasn't a lot - she could see smaller and smaller chakra systems, but now some of the large trees were starting to stand out. She thought that those might be trees created by the Senju - Konoha's trees had enough chakra to confuse a low level sensor. She thought that might have been the point)

Dinner was quiet again, with Akamaru sniffing the air - even Hinata can feel the beginnings of a cool wall of air moving in that will be followed by rain. Though whether it will be a light rain that they could work in or a torrential downpour that won't let them abandon their shelter is anyone's guess - Konoha always got two or three of those storms a year, where the entire village shut down and everyone took the day to relax and catch up on indoor chores that they might have been putting off.

If it happened while they were here, Hinata wasn't sure what they'd do since none of them are skilled with Earth jutsus and the tent wasn't designed for weather like that. Almost no tents were. There just weren’t enough of those types of storms to justify it.

"We'll be fine." Torune was watching the east, where the worst of the storms would roll in from. Hinata's grandmother always said that the storms were stronger now than they had been in the past, but she'd never elaborated and her father had chastised her for bothering to listen to old wives tales before forbidding her from mentioning it again. He continued, "It won't hit for another twelve to eighteen hours at least. And by then we'll either have the bug or not."

"Twelve to eighteen hours?" Kiba frowned at him. "How do you know?"

Torune's mouth quirked into a slight smile. "The air, mostly. It's not humid enough yet." He paused and tilted his head back, studying the sky for a moment longer. "But the wind's kicking up and anyway, what’s left of my hive is buzzing."

Hinata blinked - she hadn't realized how much, apparently, the Aburame could communicate with their bugs. At least enough to get a fairly decent weather prediction, since Shino added, "The clouds are moving quickly and getting heavier."

She glanced at the sky, but the Byakugan saw chakra pathways, which didn't help with rain forecasting, not like Kiba and Akamaru's nose or Shino's bugs.

They had split into singular groups again today and Hinata took a breath – she’d been refining her Byakugan over the last several months since she wanted to be able to work well with Shino and this mission was a true test of how well she’d become at refining her control.

But they were nearly out of time – and she had nothing to show for it. A glance at the sky confirmed that the clouds were darkening and the air was heavy with moisture. She bit her lip as she felt tears well up; she hadn’t done anything for the mission and she was just holding the boys back.

_“People tell me I never know when to give up!”_

_“I never go back on my word!”_

_Neji on the ground, when she couldn’t even touch him. And Naruto, stumbling, injured, but still standing._

_“That’s my shinobi way!”_

"I can do this." she murmured to herself, taking another calming breath, "I can do this."

"Byakugan!"

The colors faded, replaced with a washed out white littered with splashes of various shades of blue. Hinata took a breath, letting old grief go - her mother had seen the chakra in blues too.

She slowly began to move forward, cataloging the insects and small mammals that moved to stay out of her path. She took note of a wild cat, as long as Torune was tall, and took care to remember where it was. There was no point in encroaching on its territory after all.

And then... She froze and stared at the bug slowly moving across a leaf twenty feet away. They'd been looking for three days and this... barely twenty feet from her, was the bug they needed. She started moving, suppressing her chakra and moving as swiftly and silently as she knew how.

It was enough to fool Kiba. It was definitely enough to fool an insect. She gently cupped the beetle in her hands, careful to make sure that it couldn't escape. Now she just had to find the others.

"Byakugan!"

She spotted the boys immediately (after nearly six months, she knew that she'd always be able to find them, no matter the circumstances. Their chakra pathways were as familiar to her as her family's) and Torune almost immediately after. Behind her though…. Those foreign shinobi again. Hopefully not close enough to realize that she’d caught the insect that they had assumed the other shinobi were after.

She moved swiftly then, but didn't run. She didn't want to alert them that she'd seen them or they might decide to attack instead of being content to watch from a distance. And she had the beetle to worry about, since the last thing she wanted was to lose or kill the rare insect. There was no guarantee that they'd find another one.

"The group again?" Shino didn't as much as glance in the strange shinobi's direction as he helped Hinata place the beetle into a carrying case. Kiba shifted uneasily as Akamaru whined softly. Torune was turned slightly in the direction the other group was, but he was very carefully not looking directly at them. Shino stepped back, allowing Hinata to slip the case into her pack. She'd hang onto it until they either found a place to hide it or they retreated away from their possible opponents. He continued, "We'll retreat back to camp for now."

They moved quickly now. Shino was issuing orders as they moved, his voice pitched to carry without travelling beyond their group. "We'll stay for the night and leave in the morning. We don't want to try and climb that cliff while worrying about an attack from an enemy of unknown skills."

They’d barely gotten into the tent when the rain started to fall. Hinata glanced upwards. “If it’s still raining in the morning?”

Shino considered before speaking, “We have some of Sasuke’s clothes, so I think we should keep searching, to try and find another one.”

“And the one we do have?” Kiba frowned at them. “We just going to cart that around all day and risk having it stolen?”

“No.” Shino disagreed. “I’ll hide it for easy retrieval when we leave. But until it stops raining, we can keep looking.”

Kiba looked like he wanted to argue some more, so Hinata slipped in, “That seems like a good idea, Shino. We might as well see if we can complete both parts of the mission.”

Technically, as long as they managed to not lose the adult, they would have completed both parts of the mission. But this seemed important to Shino. And he had supported her, even if the mission had a ninety percent failure rate. So she’d back him up in this.

Kiba huffed and settled back, giving Hinata a knowing look. “Yeah, yeah. Fine, we’ll look for some more of your bugs.” His tone was fondly exasperated and Akamaru yipped happily. “Where do you want to start?”

“We’ll start in the southeast quadrant, where we left off today.” Shino decided. “Since we’ve already proven that the beetle lives in that area, it stands to reason that another one might as well.”

“We don’t want to stay too late tomorrow.” Torune’s voice was low and all three of them turned to look at him, since this was the first time that he had spoken up during one of their planning sessions. “A gripped kunai is worth an unfinished jutsu and we don’t want to risk losing what we have for what is essentially a bonus.”

Shino looked torn for a moment and then reluctantly nodded. “We’ll search until noon. And then we leave, regardless of whether we find another one or not.” He looked at his brother before continuing, more hesitantly – well, for Shino at any rate. “That way we won’t lose another night near an enemy.”

Torune nodded. “That’s a good compromise. We’ll still have enough light to make it over the cliffs and start back towards the village. With luck, the foreign shinobi won’t follow and if they do, we’ll have the wards and patrols in case of attack.”

They settled in to sleep, with rotating watches again – now that they had the beetle (currently in a carrying case tucked between Kiba and Shino) the chances that those foreign shinobi would attack them was much higher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to [elenathehun](http://archiveofourown.org/users/elenathehun/pseuds/elenathehun) for beta reading

The next morning it was still raining, a gentle downpour that Hinata knew was good for the farmers and good for the rivers, which had been steadily dropping for the last month and a half, though they weren’t anywhere near drought stage yet. It also wasn’t too hard to work in, once they compensated for the more slippery trees and ground.

They spread out, determined to see if they could do the impossible again – Hinata was much more confident now; she’d found the Bikōchū. She’d gotten her control fine enough that she could focus on insects. She hadn’t been a burden.

“Byakugan!”

She activated the dōjutsu but didn’t see anything, which was unfortunate, but unsurprising. If the Bikōchū was easy to find, they wouldn’t be worrying about being ambushed by foreign shinobi.

But they didn’t find anything. And the rain was letting up as they gathered for a quick lunch, which made them all nervous. They – and their mysterious shadows – were running out of time. Their enemies more so then them; at least they had the beetle. All they needed to do was keep it until the egg hatched.

*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*

Hinata’s head snapped up as something caused the birds to take for the sky, their warning calls ringing in the air. She and Shino exchanged a quick glance and took off towards the noise, Hinata’s stomach clenching; Kiba and Torune had headed in that direction less than thirty minutes earlier, looking for water to refill their canteens.

“Byakugan!” She should have scouted for them before they left, she should have been keeping an eye on them… Hinata’s mouth thinned. She was their long range scout, she should have known…. There were enemy shinobi in the area and what had she done? Not bothered to take basic precautions.

Shino sped up until they were side by side. “This isn’t your fault.” His voice was tighter than normal, but it was his brother that might be in trouble. If it was Hanabi…. Shino continued, “I shouldn’t have allowed us to split up. I underestimated our enemy.”

They were at the clearing and there wasn’t time to say anything. Hinata landed, wobbling a bit and stumbling forward to land on her knees next to Torune, her fingers immediately going to his throat to check for a pulse. It was there, if faint, and she could see the erratic rise and fall of his chest that indicated difficulty breathing. She fumbled with her pouch as Shino came up behind her, searching for the generalized antidote she always carried with her. It wouldn’t completely purge the poison from his system, but it should keep him from dying until they could find help.

“Kiba and Akamaru are missing.” Shino moved back to the middle of the clearing and knelt to examine the ground. Hinata turned to look, watching as he held up what looked like a wasp. “These were probably used to attack and incapacitate them.”

Hinata sucked in a sharp breath and glanced back at Torune. If Kiba had gotten the same dose of whatever had downed Torune…. “We need to find them.” She tried to ignore the way her voice was shaking. That wasn’t important right now. “We –” She broke off as a faint noise caught her attention. Shino also stiffened as a swarm of bugs poured off of him and disappeared into the trees.

“Hinata.”

“I heard it. Byakugan!” The clearing turned white and blue and she shifted slightly, checking in her blind spot. “I don’t…. no, wait. Shino, under Torune!”

They rapidly moved over to the chūnin and Hinata got behind him, steadying his back while Shino gripped his arm and shoulder. “On three. One, two…three!”

They rolled Torune onto his back and Hinata swiftly turned his head to the side, in case he began to vomit. There, shielded by his body, Akamaru was huddled in a tiny ball. Shino reached out as though to touch the Nin dog, but pulled his hand back at the last second. “Hinata, do you think you can give Akamaru a small enough dose to slow down the poison?”

Hinata pulled out another vial of the antidote. “Maybe. I don’t know enough about his physiology to be sure.” She felt strangely detached and calm as she carefully measured out as much of the antidote as she thought she could give the small dog. “What are we going to do Shino? We can’t move Torune and Akamaru and find Kiba while protecting the Bikōchū.”

Shino’s hands clenched. “We aren’t giving up the Bikōchū.” He took a deep breath. “Stay with them. I’m going to set up a safe location to move them to.”

“Shino!” Hinata shouted as her teammate took off, leaving her alone. “We shouldn’t separate right now…” Her voice trailed off and her own hands clenched into fists. She felt so helpless! She didn’t have the antidote, not one that would help anyway and she had no way to heal either of her injured teammates, which would at least be useful. “Alright, you can do this.” She began to move. “First step, check the symptoms and administer what available antidotes you have.” She continued to recite everything she knew about dealing with a poisoning in the field as she worked, carefully bundling up Akamaru and tucking him into a sling in between her coat and shirt. It wasn’t the best solution, but it would help to regulate his body temperature if this was one of the poisons that caused it to fluctuate.

With Torune, she placed a folded up blanket under his head, more for something to do than any true medical purpose and then covered with a blanket. She didn’t know enough to be able to do more than that and she clenched her fists in helpless frustration as she waited for Shino to return.

“I have a place.” Shino reappeared. “Let’s go.”

It took three of Shino’s clones to move Torune and once they had placed him in Shino’s hiding place they dissolved and dispersed. “If they find any sign of Kiba or those three shinobi, they’ll lead us right to them.”

“And if they don’t?” Hinata kept her voice even through sheer effort as they moved away from Torune. Akamaru was still tucked into her jacket – she didn’t think she could leave him behind and Shino hadn’t said anything.

“Then we’ll…” Shino’s eyes widened in alarm and he tackled her to the side, out of the path of a kunai. They hit the ground hard, Hinata luckily on her side – she wasn’t sure if Akamaru could take being landed on as well as poisoned.

“What was that?” She was already moving as the demand left her lips, darting up the tree and pulling the kunai out. “Shino! There’s a note!”

He was at her side in an instant, watching intently as she gently teased the note from where it was wrapped around the kunai’s handle.  She read it silently before she passed it to Shino. He read it and crumpled it in his fist.

_We have your mutt. If you want him back, bring the Bikōchū to the eastern hill later tonight._

Hinata realized she was barely breathing, she was so angry. A small distant part of her pointed out that not even during the exams, when her cousin – a cousin she had loved once upon a time. Still loved, even if she knew that she could never trust him – was trying to kill her had she been as angry as she is now. A deep breath. Another.

“We’re getting him back.”

Shino just looked at her. “Of course.” As if there had ever been any doubt.

“They’re not getting the Bikōchū.”

They were _not_ going to give up the Bikōchū. She didn’t care who they were or what they wanted it for. Her team had been the ones to look for it. Her team had invested their time and their hopes in trying to help their friends.

And these enemy shinobi were threatening to take that away.

“No.” Shino’s face was a grim mask. “There was no mention of any antidote – they have no intention of letting us live.”

Hinata nodded slowly. “Do you have any idea who it could be?” She could adjust for that. For Kiba, for keeping him alive, she could be strong. Strong enough to save him. And Akamaru and Torune.

 _Naruto would be strong enough._ She knew that deep in her bones. _He’d be strong enough to save everyone._ So she would have to be strong enough as well.

“The bees point towards the Kamizuru Clan, from Iwa.” Shino said finally. “They were once as well respected – or as valued at any rate – as the Aburame Clan.”

They moved to the trees, heading towards the hill. They didn’t need to wait until tonight. They already had had a plan for getting the bug safely out of the sinkhole – now they would modify it in order to protect Kiba.

“What happened?” Hinata wondered, only slightly interested in the answer. “Byakugan!” She could see the eastern hill from here, but the Kamizuru weren’t there yet, nor where they anywhere in her eyes’ range.

“They were meant to have the vanguard position of an invasion force during the Second Shinobi War, but my clan learned of their plans and met them in battle before they could even get close to the village.” They landed in the bushes and Shino handed her a bottle – the insect repellent – and continued as she carefully applied it to her skin. “It was the first time that the two clans had met on the field of battle in such numbers, but at the end of the day, the Aburame were victorious. And the Kamizuru Clan was disgraced.”

Hinata nodded and then ducked lower. “Here they come.” She whispered softly. “There’s the… No, only one of them is actually there. Everyone else on that hill is a clone.” The Kamizuru had clearly not done their research; otherwise they would have known that clones without chakra infused in them would never fool a Hyūga.

Shino’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “We don’t have time to search for him. Not before sunrise.”

 _Not before he becomes more of a liability than an asset_. Hinata translated. If – when – it became clear that they wouldn’t give the Iwa shinobi the Bikōchū, Kiba would be dead weight for them to have to either guard or dispose of. And given their method of making sure that the only chūnin with them was incapacitated, Hinata – and Shino – guessed that they wouldn’t go with the bloodless option.

Two of Shino’s bug clones appeared before they took the carrying case and headed up the hill. “So we need to narrow the search area down.” Two more appeared, playing the parts of the “real” them that would attempt the rescue of “Kiba”.

Hinata’s brow furrowed as she thought. “Shino….” She hesitated, “Have your bugs _not_ come back from any particular direction?”

A pause. Then, “The northwest. That is the only direction in which less of my hive have returned than went out.” Shino slipped further back. “We’ll start there.”

Hinata followed, making sure that Iwa shinobi didn’t notice anything strange. The last thing they needed was to make them more suspicious than they already would be.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hinata tilted her head to the side as she studied the structure carefully. “That… that looks like a bee hive?”

“Yes.” Shino came to rest next to her. “As I said, the Kamizuru are famed for their bees. If this was the Sutingā, we would be dealing with hornets or wasps.”

Hinata shuddered. “Byakugan!”  She studied the structure critically. “There is someone in there….but the chakra signature doesn’t match Kiba’s at all.”

“Then we don’t go in.” Shino huffed in annoyance. “We’re not wasting time the others don’t have.” Shino shifted backwards but Hinata stayed, studying the structure carefully.

“Shino, there’s an underground cavern underneath the visible hive.”

He stopped and returned, staring silently and Hinata could almost see him thinking through the problem. “We need to destroy it then. There is no reason for a cavern to be there. The geography of the area is wrong for that.”

“Exploding tags.” Hinata was already pulling out every single exploding tag she had but it wasn’t much. Their unit was a scouting and reconnaissance and none of them carried much in the way of destructive tools. Shino added his own to the pile, but he didn’t have any more than she did. Hinata sat back on her heels. “We’ll need to be careful with them.” She looked at Shino before turning her attention back to the hive. “You know better than me – which part of the hive is the weakest?”

Shino refocused his own attention on the structure and Hinata waited patiently. Shino’s bugs had yet to return, which meant they hadn’t been destroyed by the Iwa shinobi yet. So they had time, even if it wasn’t as much as they would like.

“There are several points near the entrance and the lower sides that would cause a collapse if damaged.” Shino said finally. “This hive was set up with speed in mind, not longevity. They probably hadn’t intended to remain here long.”

Hinata handed him the exploding tags. “You take care of this.” She slipped further into the woods. “I’ll find Kiba.”

“Right.” Shino’s bugs were already moving to pick up the tags. “When I finish here, I’ll find you.”

Hinata nodded sharply and took to the trees. She knew Shino would be able to complete his part of the mission, which meant she needed to be able to as well. If she were the one who had been captured, she knew that Kiba and Shino would stop at nothing to retrieve her and complete the mission. Now, she could do no less.

 _Try not to be a burden…_ She shook her head, banishing her father’s words. This wasn’t the time for that. If she was going to be any help, she would need to be more like Naruto, who ignored the people who thought he couldn’t do it.  

_“People tell me I never know when to give up!”_

She landed in the middle of a clearing. She was still in the northwest area of the depression and hopefully they hadn’t hidden Kiba in another area. “Byakugan!”

Nothing. She took to the trees again, keeping her Byakugan activated. It was draining, if she kept it active for too long, but for this, it should be enough. “Kiba… where are you?” She turned slightly, heading more to the north. Wait… _there_!

She landed again, stopping to ensure that she hadn’t been mistaken. She hadn’t. Kiba was in the river and there were two of the Iwa shinobi with him, watching as several bees hovered over the rope that tethered him to shore. Hinata bit her lip, studying the situation carefully.

The bees would have to be taken care of first, that much was obvious. If they severed the rope and Kiba was swept down the river, Hinata wasn’t sure she was fast enough to catch him. But could she take out the bees _and_ the two shinobi before they killed Kiba? No, she didn’t think so. Which meant that she had to wait for Shino to destroy the hive because if that didn’t draw them away, nothing would.

A series of explosions rocked the area, sending birds flying into the sky, screaming in alarm. The two men looked up in shock and then took off in the direction of the hive. Hinata waited for a count of ten before she raced to the edge of the river. She dropped down, watching the insects.

 _One, two three…_ She quickly counted them. _Twelve, no thirteen_. She’d never had such small targets before and she’d never had them so far away… But they were on the other side of the river and she didn’t have much of a choice. But…. They’d been practicing this. She’d been practicing this.

She dipped her fingers into the river and took a breath. Her chakra ice needles were new and something that she’d only perfected only recently and only at close to midrange. Her spine stiffened and she spooled her chakra out into the water, letting it drift closer to the insects, until she thought that enough of it was curled around Kiba that she could begin the jutsu.

The liquid begin to swirl, pulling the water down and then expelling it straight out, leeching the heat back into the walls of the whirlpool and solidifying the spears of water into ice. She was moving before the last ice needle fully formed; knowing that the boost she’d given it would allow it to keep its shape even if she was diverting her chakra to water walking.

One of the bees survived long enough to sever the rope and Hinata lunged, gripping the rope and wrapping it around her forearm. She hooked her arm around the post Kiba had been tethered to in order to anchor herself to something solid and gain some leverage.

“I’ve got you, Kiba!” She gritted her teeth and _heaved_. She moved backwards an inch at a time, grimly determined. She wasn’t going to lose him. Not now.

She kept her Byakugan active, not willing to be caught by surprise while she was essentially helpless, but they didn’t return as she carefully pulled Kiba onto the shore. “Just a few more seconds,” she promised, slamming her fingers into the wax cocoon, cracking it along its weak points.

Kiba gasped for air when she pulled the gag off and lunged away from her when the cocoon shattered into a thousand pieces around him. He was trembling, though Hinata couldn’t tell whether it was from stress or he’d been hit with the same poison as Torune and… “Here.” She quickly opened her jacket and held out Akamaru. The puppy was still shivering, but he managed a weak yip when he saw Kiba.

“Akamaru!” Kiba pulled his partner to his chest and buried his face in Akamaru’s fur before he looked up at Hinata. “I thought….” He trailed off and Hinata could see shadows in his eyes that weren’t there before. “He got stung so many times.”

“I gave him the general antidote,” Hinata stood and tugged Kiba to his feet. They couldn’t stay here, with the possibility of their enemy returning. Shino’s distraction would only work for so long and they still needed to find a way to get the bug and Torune out of here and back to Konoha.

Hinata herded him towards the tree line where they would have some cover and wouldn't be immediately noticeable. A clone erased their footprints, hopefully enough so that it wouldn't be immediately apparent which direction they had gone in. When they were past the immediate opening, she turned and activated the Byakugan, looking for any sign of the two other shinobi.

She hoped Shino had managed to get away after destroying the hive but she had to get Kiba somewhere safe since he didn't look like he'd be up to doing much more than running, if he could even do that.

She pulled out her last vial of antidote - she always carried enough for each of them, not counting Akamaru and she'd already used two. This would be three and if anyone else was stung, there wouldn't be any help. Shino had told her that he had sent some bugs back to the village to get help, but it had been a two day journey here....

Hinata did the mental calculations: minimum of two days, probably three, to get to the village. A quarter to half day to gather a group that included a medic. Another two days - a day and a half if they pushed it.

So they were on their own for at least another five days. Maybe a week if the rain continued.

Hinata pressed her lips together. Two genin - maybe three, if Kiba wasn't as badly poisoned as she thought - versus two, maybe three, high level chūnin or jōnin.

She resigned herself to failing the mission, at least so far as getting a Bikōchū to track Sasuke. Unless Shino had dropped one of Sasuke's (hopefully one of Sasuke's) shirts into the carrying case before he had hidden the egg.

Naruto had taken the hitai-ate with him, as far as Hinata knew. None of them had thought to ask Sakura - it had seemed like a sensitive subject and, since the Uchiha wards had dissolved like so much fog when Sasuke had left his headband behind when he defected, it had been easy enough to just walk in and find out where Sasuke had been staying.

The whole house was covered in a layer of dust, except for the bathroom, the kitchen, what Hinata assumed was a guest bedroom, given its location in the house, and the hallway connecting all three. And even that was not dust free. Only a path carved in the middle of five years’ worth of dirt and dust.

It had been one of the saddest things Hinata had ever seen. It had also been one of the most disturbing.

She came back to the present as bushes rustled and she ducked further into the tree hollow that she and Kiba had retreated to. One of the Iwa shinobi came through the undergrowth and Hinata curled her lip.

Didn't Iwa shinobi know how to move properly? It wasn't _hard_.

"Byakugan." she whispered; just to make sure that the other one - or two - weren't using the noise as cover to sneak up on her. Nothing. The Iwa shinobi just had no idea how to properly move through a forest.

Hinata checked the contents of her pouch, cataloguing what contents she had left. Not much: wire, twelve kunai, a sealing scroll with food in it, another sealing scroll with clothes, rope and various smaller ninja tools - some caltrops, shuriken, and a gift from her grandmother: a tessen. It was passed down from oldest daughter to oldest daughter, which meant that it had passed from main family to branch family to main family and back to branch many times over the decades or centuries that the family had had the fan.

She fingered the fan carefully, thinking. She could fight with the tessen - all of the non-shinobi women of the clan could and quite a few of the shinobi women as well - but she wasn't her cousin Hideko, who made it look so graceful and easy. But between her clan's taijutsu style and the supplies she had, she should be able to at least cripple one of the jōnin.

Provided, of course, that she could get one of them alone.

She looked back a Kiba, who was watching her silently, and Akamaru who starting to shake. "Stay here." Her lips barely moved. "I'm going to find Shino."

Kiba looked like he might object but then he glanced back down at Akamaru and nodded slowly. "Be careful." He reached out and tugged one of her bangs. "These guys play for keeps."

She nodded. She knew that. Kiba knew that she knew that. But she also knew that he needed to say it. She quickly reached out and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze before she slipped out of the hollow and into the branches of the trees.

 


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the mission - no one is dead and they did catch the beetle, so it was partially successful

She didn't have to stay in the trees for long - the first Iwa shinobi had stopped and was standing in the center of a small clearing. Hinata stopped too, straining her ears for the sound of buzzing; unlike Shino's own beetles, these insects weren't silent and hopefully, as long as she wasn't too loud, she should be able to hear them.

There was nothing - maybe he was waiting for his teammates to join him. She reactivated her Byakugan, scanning the immediate area for them. She wished that she could hold the dōjutsu for longer: right now she could keep it continuously activated for barely an hour and it would leave her woozy and shaky for the rest of the day.

She had been practicing and she had definitely improved, but several of the older members of the clan could keep their eyes active for nearly an entire day - and had, during the war. She knew it would be years before she reached that level of strength but she needed to be better.

The Chunin Exams had showed her how much she had to improve.

The Invasion had shown her why.

And Naruto…. Well, Naruto had proven she _could_.

She felt her world narrow into herself and her opponent. She considered staying where she was, letting him walk away and waiting for Shino. But it had been nearly an hour since the explosion and until Shino showed up, she needed to operate as though she was the only active member of Team 8.

And that meant she needed to eliminate the threat to herself and her team. So, she watched for another minute before moving. She had some more wire and one smoke and flash bomb, along with three shuriken. Not a lot to work with, but their team had always traveled light (Kurenai-sensei had insisted. They were a tracking team and that meant being able to move as quickly as possible with as little as possible) and because of their various family styles, they'd skimped on weapons too. Hinata was changing that immediately after this mission. In fact, she was going to start overstocking.

She took a breath: Go through step by step: _first, distraction_.

She threw the smoke and flash bomb in tandem, since they didn't make nearly as much noise as an explosive tag- better to overwhelm his eyes and blind him in the same moment.

 _Step two: incapacitate_.

The shuriken were second, with the wire between them and Hinata aimed at where his neck had been. If she was lucky, it would choke him.

 _Step three: kill the target_.

Kurenai-sensei didn't use pretty words or euphemisms when she taught, which Hinata considered ironic in one of the best genjutsu masters in Konoha. Kurenai-sensei just didn’t believe there was a point to pretty up the ugly that her students would be learning.

"You are all going to have to learn this truth, sooner or later." She'd told them on their second day as a team, the four of them sitting on a log while she stood in front of them, arms crossed. The sun had been shining, Hinata remembered. Kurenai-sensei had continued, "Gods willing, you will not be learning it for a good while yet."

Hinata remembered feeling horrified then, about actually killing someone. The Academy had glossed over that, had had them killing animals so that they would be used to blood and what death looked like, but they hadn’t talked about killing a person. But now, she didn’t even hesitate.

She hit the ground running, her eyes rendering the smoke pointless. She didn't bother aiming for the man's arms or legs. She slammed her palm into his gut and closed every chakra point between his diaphragm and pelvis. When he began to crumble, she jammed two fingers right where his heart would be. He'd be dead in minutes, unless he could force open all of the chakra points she closed.

She hoped he didn't try - it would be more painful if he tried to prolong it.

By the time the other man - black hair, beard, and much larger than the blond man - appeared, she was already moving back towards where the hive had been. If Shino was on his way to them, they'd cross paths. Otherwise, Hinata would find him when she arrived.

The blond man was dead, of course. Hinata was nothing if not thorough when she wanted to be.

When she arrived, the hive was a pile of burning wax and the carcasses of bees, ranging from normal sized to gargantuan, littered the landscape. Most of them were burned - Shino had used the explosive tags wisely then. Hinata crouched in the bushes; she didn't know if the third shinobi, a woman, was still alive or not and Hinata would rather have that question answered before she returned to Kiba.

Another glance with the Byakugan showed a body slumped on the ground. The lack of chakra in it gave her a cause of death.

(Even the recently dead still had some chakra left. It took around twenty four to forty eight hours for the chakra to dissipate completely, leaving only the shell)

Shino must have used his bugs.

She started to head back towards Kiba - there wasn't any point in staying and... a slight tickle on the back of her ear... Shino would be able to follow her wherever she went. The clouds were breaking now and with that was the light pink glow of predawn. Time was almost up and there was still one more enemy out there.

Hinata considered leaving him - the other two were dead, due to a combination of arrogance (theirs), competence (Team Eight's) and luck (more than Hinata was comfortable with, if she was honest). But… but that didn't sit well with her, leaving an enemy at their backs. It went against everything that they'd ever been taught - especially with wounded teammates. She didn't slow down, but she did chew on her lower lip as she thought (a good way to bite through her lip).

She finally decided to leave it. She'd do more good helping to get Kiba back to Torune-san than chasing an enemy all over the valley. It was too big for her to effectively search on her own, in any case.

Kiba was where she had left him and she was pleased to notice that he was looking better. Not a lot better, but enough that she thought he'd be able to move on his own.

(She might have been able to carry him, but it wouldn't have been fast or quiet, two things that they most needed)

"Did you get 'em?" Kiba kept his voice low enough that Hinata could barely hear him. They'd done that before on missions, spoke only as loud as they had to or even softer. Kiba would complain that Hinata, being able to both lip read and see in an almost perfect 360 degree circle, was cheating but he'd say it with a grin so she would know that he wasn't serious.

Now, the game was invaluable.

"One. The blond man." Hinata could feel the edges of chakra exhaustion creeping up on her and did her best to ignore them. "Shino got the woman."

Kiba's grin was full of feral satisfaction. "Good." He didn't elaborate and Hinata didn't ask. Whatever the Iwa had said could wait until Kiba could talk to his grandmother, who was a psychologist and sat down with each member of the clan after their first six C-rank missions. She had offered to do the same for Hinata and Shino but they had declined then. Hinata wondered if the offer was still open.

"The other one, the big one," Hinata started before she faltered, not sure how to continue.

Kiba picked up on the dropped question anyway. "He wasn't the one in charge - that seemed like it was the woman." He wrinkled his nose. "They all smelled like desperation though."

That... that wasn't good, even if Hinata could have guessed they were desperate. It takes a special kind of drive to sneak into Fire Country and conduct a search within spitting distance of Konoha's Outer Wards for an insect that was mostly legend.

But, with their team whittled down to one, the only Iwa left might decide to cut his losses and run.

Hinata doubted it. If their positions had been reversed... no, the Iwa wouldn't just leave. He wouldn't leave until he had the beetle. Or their corpses. So, after she got Kiba back with Torune and checked on him to see if he was recovering, she was going to take a page out their book.

(She hoped he was recovering. She wasn't sure what she'd do if he wasn't)

She would find Shino and they would deal with the Iwa shinobi. A part of her quaked, at the thought of what they doing and she could almost hear her father's voice:

 _Try not to be a burden to those around you.........if you are able to help it_.

But.... she hadn't been, she realized. She'd found the bug. She'd helped to find the hive and gone to rescue Kiba. She'd rescued Kiba. And she'd been the one to protect her friends.

She sucked in a sharp breath.

She hadn't....no, that wasn't right. She _wasn't_ a burden.

Kiba leaned a little harder on her. "You smell better now." He was still moving though, so Hinata didn't answer - he'd know soon enough anyway. Another healthy sniff from him and Hinata rolled her eyes. Some things she would never be comfortable with about her teammates and Kiba's uncanny ability to smell emotions and mood swings were one of them.

There was barely a hint of warning before a swarm of bees erupted out of the trees.

Hinata dropped Kiba, who managed to land in a rough crouch, and shifted into a stance that had Kiba hissing in shock. "Are you sure...?"

She ignored him, letting her chakra rise to the surface. She had less than normal, due to the last few hours, but she should have enough.

A deep breath and one glance at Kiba, to fortify her resolve and one last fleeting thought of Naruto, standing defiant in front of a crowd of thousands. Then....

"Protecting Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

She noticed how still Kiba stayed, which she approved of. As long as someone was within the circle her arms made, they would be protected as well. She began to move, slowly at first and picking up speed.

The principle of the jutsu was simple: using the speed of the sixty four palms, normally used to protect oneself and spreading it out, creating a half sphere of protection for anyone under the dome.

And now, standing there, all that was between her teammate and an enemy, Hinata discovered something else - she was terrible at defending herself, but others? There wasn't any room for doubt with that.

A pile of bees was on the ground within minutes and Hinata hadn't yet hit her limits even if she knew she was reaching them. The Iwa shinobi was gaping at her - he'd apparently never seen a Hyūga in action - but she was busy keeping an eye out for Shino, who should have noticed her sudden flare of chakra.

And then the shinobi summoned one of the largest bees she'd ever seen, it towered over them, the massive wings causing a wind strong enough to bend over the trees. She faltered as a branch broke off and flying past her and was slammed back, soaring through the air and hitting the ground hard. She was on her feet an instant later - Kiba needed her. She nearly whited out - she'd land wrong on her shoulder or arm, but either way, she wouldn't be using her jutsu again.

That didn't change the fact that she and Kiba were now facing a massive summons, on their own, with nothing more than one of Hinata's arms and whatever Kiba was able to manage.

She moved to stand next to Kiba, who had shoved himself to his feet. Akamaru wobbled next to him, growling softly.

"YOU DIE!" The Iwa shinobi's voice was full of rage and pain and Hinata wanted to flinch back from the force of it. But Kiba was standing beside her and Akamaru was a warm weight on her lower leg.

Hinata planted her feet and shoved all of her chakra into one singular blade that seemed to just bounce off the monster insect. Shuriken and kunai flew past her ear - Kiba.

And then.... a swarm of bugs flew past her, filling the area. A shield settled in around her and Kiba, protecting them.

Shino was here.

No.... Shino and Torune, who no longer looked like he was knocking on death's door, only pausing to rest on the front stoop. The chūnin flew by them and lunged towards the Iwa shinobi, engaging the man in hand to hand. Shino slipped into the circle of his bugs and stood with them for a moment.

"We have less than a half hour until dawn." He sounded calm but Hinata could see the unsteady flares in his chakra. He wasn't really as in control as he wanted them to think, but he trusted them to not mention that they could tell without him even saying a word.

She took a breath and nodded once, mostly to herself. "We stay. We aren't leaving Torune-san to fight him alone."

They had the bug, alive and well. They'd proved that there were still Bikōchū beetles still out there. So, given the choice between the teammate in front of her and the boy that had betrayed the village and nearly gotten Kiba killed.... she made her choice.

She didn't think Sakura would disagree with it.

She hoped that Naruto wouldn't either.

"Do we even have a plan?" Kiba demanded, pulling out another kunai, holding it tightly in his hand. He passed two others over to them and Hinata took hers gratefully. She felt better with the cool steel in her palm.

"No." Shino sounded disgruntled. "Not anymore." He glowered at Hinata. "All of my plans involved at least one of us being at full health."

Kiba and Hinata looked over at him so fast Shino could hear bone cracking. "What's wrong?" Hinata activated her Byakugan. "When did you get injured?"

"Chakra." Shino sounded slightly embarrassed. "My hive used up quite a bit of energy with no chance of a chakra injection and," Shino's gaze swung back over to where his brother was fighting, "My brother's hive needs the energy more than mine does."

Kiba dropped a hand on his shoulder, "We can work on that later. But for now...."

Shino pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Hit them until they fall down, of course."

Hinata was moving even as Shino's bugs shot forward, swarming around the summons - Hinata could see weakening chakra. The boys fell into step behind her.

It felt good.

More than good, it felt _right_. This was what Hinata wanted - the feeling of being useful, of being needed, of protecting (be able to protect). Of having people watching her back without worrying about the dagger that they might be holding.

Shino moved to take point, since he was the one in the best shape - chakra depletion aside - and a wave of bugs moved in front of them. Kiba took the right, closer to the massive summons and Hinata took the left, closer to Torune; she was the one best able to defend herself, lamed arm or not.

Akamaru was tucked back in Kiba's jacket, where he was safe, and the pair charged forward. Hinata darted towards Torune but stumbled to a halt halfway there, watching in fascinated horror as the Iwa shinobi started to scream, his skin shifting from natural pale to an angry red that seemed to roil.

Kiba lost his footing and landed on his butt, his own eyes wide in shock. Only Shino kept moving but then, he'd seen his brother's hive and knew what it could do. His teammates hadn't.

The man died and Shino's bugs swarmed into empty air where the summons had been, since it vanished back into the summons realm with the death of the last of its contract holders. Or at least the last in the immediate vicinity at any rate.

"Shit." Kiba didn't seem like he could come up with anything else. Hinata kept her mouth closed, but concurred with the sentiment wholeheartedly.

Torune stopped and rested his hands on his knees, letting his head hang for a moment before lifting it. "Are you alright?" His head moved enough that she knew he was looking them all over, searching for obvious (immediately life threatening) injuries.

"We'll be fine," she said finally, when neither Kiba nor Shino said anything. "Let's just get back to camp."

The walk back was mostly silent, with the four of them supporting each other since even with a meal of Iwa shinobi, Torune's bugs still needed more rest and he was giving them as much of his own chakra as he could manage. Hinata was just trying to avoid jostling her arm too much, now that the high of adrenaline was wearing off. She'd probably get the shakes soon.

But when they made it to camp, she didn't have time then either: Akamaru was getting worse. Whatever the poison was, it was killing the puppy.

They still took the time to check on the insect(s), since the female Bikōchū was still in the carrying case, now sharing it with her offspring, and confirmed what they knew - that it was useless to try and use it as a tracker for the moment. Maybe the next generation, since the imprint needed to happen immediately after the egg hatched.

Shino took the lead and directed them in breaking camp and setting out towards the cliff. Hinata wasn't looking forward to climbing that, but they didn't have much of a choice and managed to improvise climbing harnesses and kunai as belays and anchors; none of them had the chakra to manage to free climb.

It still took them the rest of the day to make it to the top.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is always appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!


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